Andy was trying to figure out why Yaroslav responded to Fyodor's question using his cousin's summon as a cover.
Deep down he didn't feel that way.
Rushing down the stone stairs, each step Yaroslav took shook the walls. There was so much compressed power within the man's body that Andy didn't feel like he had ever taken a proper step in his life.
Soon he reached the ground floor.
This was the northern frontier of Durssia, Dracula's Fort.
An ancient monument of castle fort that has stood in place for years providing protection for the soldiers of Durssia.
It was also the place where the first Wesen accounted for in Durssia was killed.
All these memories—Yaroslav's memories—suddenly began to fill Andy's mind as Yaroslav rushed through the snow to get to the gates of the fort.
There are Wesens here too? What exactly are they? Andy mused.
The soldiers patrolling the fort, those on the 4-story-high walls and those below, all saluted their commander when they saw him.
Collective chinks of armor hitting armor echoed out, but Yaroslav didn't acknowledge them.
Not because he didn't want to, but because his thoughts were in disarray.
Images of a lady dressed in a golden brown, ball gown kept flashing in Andy's mind, however, he couldn't see more than that.
But he could tell that that was Anastasia who had been killed. And that this image was what was playing in Yaroslav's mind.
Is it because the synchronicity is low that I can't have a clearer view of this part of his memory?
Midway, the neigh of horses snapped both of them out of their thoughts.
A Beast! Andy thought in surprise.
Several of them! Normally, he would have entered a battle stance, however, he didn't feel any fear from Yaroslav or the soldiers, which left him confused.
"Commander!" Twenty-five steel-armored soldiers, including Fyodor, saluted.
Yaroslav responded with a quick nod and mounted his horse, a red-haired steed.
"We are headed for Groscow! There's great unrest in our homeland! Anderei will be given temporary command over the northern frontier and make decisions for its betterment until I am back!"
Without even waiting to hear from his men, Yaroslav pulled the reins and gave his horse a firm nudge.
With a loud neigh, the horse charged towards the exit, moving faster than anything Andy had ever experienced.
As it moved, it was as though everything ahead of them was within seconds of reach.
Behind the commander followed twenty-six men on horses too.
[Identity Synchronization 13%.]
It didn't take long before Andy could access a bit of Yaroslav's memory pertaining to horses. It was at this point that Andy realized once again, another lie that the academy had instilled in them.
What they called beasts, were merely animals. Though there were some, who, due to Mana, mutated. But they were not the Beasts the academy portrayed them to be.
Yaroslav's emotions were all over the place for Andy to be able to experience his.
It was as though his emotions weren't permitted to be here.
The night was very dark, with the clouds blocking the moon's light and no fire to light up their path, it was as though they were charging into a storm of black snow.
But these soldiers held no fear towards the darkness.
Anastasia, my beloved! Whoever it was that poisoned you, I promise to send them to hell!
I should have fought for your hand back then… I shouldn't have let Ivan's lustrous eyes gaze upon you. If only I had been more willful, you would have been my wife, and not his.
Yaroslov was going through another phase of grief within the darkness, and every pang, every regret, Andy had a second-hand taste of them.
He's in love with his cousin's wife… dead wife? What is it with women, can't anyone see that falling in love with them is a problem? What's wrong with dying single?
Andy thought with annoyance.
His experience regarding this feeling has not been pleasant so far.
If the Boyars were behind your death, then I shall sing them a lullaby to lull them to death. I promise you this, my beloved.
Hours went by and they were still going, only stopping for the horses to rest when the dawn arrived.
Yaroslav and his soldiers were resting by the edges of a forest, already overtaken by snow.
The spotless whiteness of the snow under the light of dawn seemed to have created an illusion of standing on clouds.
Andy, taking all this in, was mesmerized by it.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen snow before, but never had he felt so unrestrained underneath it.
Due to Yaroslav's power, the man wasn't cold, if anything, he was struggling to remain patient while the horses rested.
He even considered completing the rest of the journey on foot, however, the man knew that his endurance wouldn't permit that.
There was sure to be danger on the way back, and he couldn't risk it.
[Identity Synchronization: 20%]
Upon seeing this notification, Andy felt more memories of Yaroslav become available to him. And the one that shocked him the most was one of the man's broken skills.
Broken in the sense that it was bizarre.
[Eyes Like The Wind (Lv9)]
With his current synchronization rate, Andy could activate this skill without causing much deviation from the Fragmented Shard's path.
The moment this skill was activated, Andy felt and saw the world shrink before him.
A thousand Kilometers?
Ten thousand? He couldn't tell. This was beyond his scope of understanding.
And then the shrinking stopped at a point, reaching its limits.
Andy was just being amazed by this skill when he noticed something.
Something quite familiar.
Isn't that a section of the Academy!?
Upon confirming the familiarity of the terrain, Andy wanted to rush in that direction. Even though he didn't know how far the place was, he felt like he needed to.
Yaroslav's body vanished, crossing more than 4 kilometers with a single step. When he reappeared in the distance, Andy was once again stunned by what this man was capable of.
But that didn't stop him from moving.
He crossed more than 30 kilometers in a few seconds.
[Warning! Completion rate dropping! Warning, Your soldiers are starting to suspect your identity.]
[Warning! Any further deviation of such degree from the intended path will cause the Fragmented Shard to break!]